A Common Strength
by Goz
Summary: Six members of Team Rocket are dispatched to catch a rare Pokemon. But this Pokemon has a habit of changing lives - and not for the better. (This fic contains only new characters and is rather complicated, so I may not finish if no one's interested)


A Common Strength  
by Goz  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, though no, I'm not prepared for a lawsuit. Should I be?  
  
Note: I'm not sure I'm going to finish this, or at least not sure I'm going to post the rest. It may get a little too complicated for people to care to follow. But whatever. Here's the first chapter.  
  
-  
  
The Prologue  
  
-  
  
Aylward was supposed to like mornings, but he didn't. Morning was when an Espeon was strongest, but Aylward was Aylward and was stronger than any other Espeon any time of the day. So he slept until midday, and the great leader was established as quirky.  
  
"Hiiiiiiiii Aylward!" Matins was industriously at work in a little spot where grass and moss had been scratched away. "Come see what IIIIIIII made!"  
  
"Okay." He had speak loudly because he could hear the very young Eevee much better than she could him, of course. Matins would, by her name, someday be an Espeon, but by her admiration for Seer, be a Flareon. "Why are you digging?"  
  
She turned to him, eyes bright, as he stepped through the last of the scrawny bushes. "I planted FLOWERS! LOOK!" She indicated the tiny green sprouts proudly with her filthy paws. "Seer gave me seeds! They're called CHAMOMILE! Aren't they pretty?"  
  
"They're beautiful. They'll be better when the flowers come out, though."  
  
"Yeah! I bring water EVERY day and Waring helps me keep them from getting cold -" That didn't sound likely. The elderly Espeon must have done something to the composition of the flowers themselves. "- because they don't grow this early because there's not enough sun and the ground is cold and other plants aren't here, either." She lost interest in Waring and reverently knelt behind the biggest sprout, sniffing it delicately.  
  
Aylward nodded quietly, saving for later the little girl with her flowers. Sometimes, these short moments were all that kept him alive.  
  
Then she looked up, troubled. "I have to be really careful because they're so little. I accidentally drowned one." Aylward nodded again. And that was all that urged him towards something else. "I have to go now. Could you tell me when the flowers come out?"  
  
"Okay!" Aylward brushed his tail over hers and walked in the direction the least other people were in. He had to leave now, before he got himself worked up any more.  
  
-  
  
The MacGuffin  
  
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One Pokemon in two hundred billion is born already at or past its second stage in evolution. These Pokemon are called evolution prodigies.  
  
Evolution prodigies are exponentially stronger than others of their species. They, in fact, stand among the strongest Pokemon in the world. But unlike the Pokemon of legends, their minds are not built to carry their strength. They must somehow come to an accomodation with their strength, or die.  
  
One Pokemon in two hundred billion is born an evolution prodigy. It is statistically unlikely that two evolution prodigies would be alive at the same time. But if it should happen, it would be inevitable that they meet.  
  
-  
  
Chapter 1: Omen-Related  
  
-  
  
Once upon a time, Grier had joined Team Rocket because she enjoyed the thrill of stealing things and not getting caught, and assumed she'd like it more if she were getting paid for it. But that had been six years ago, and now she was considering getting on with her life, however possible.  
  
Especially right this moment, as a matter of fact.  
  
"So, he's a very *famous* Pokemon thief, and the Boss is paying him a lot to join," Darby was saying with a nervous smile, pushing old newspapers across the table to Grier and Gerrit. "We just have to be careful not to... you know, be too pushy."  
  
"He's just hired, and he outranks us *already*?!" Gerrit wailed for probably the twentieth time. "It took me *eight years* -"  
  
"And it took us fourteen to keep exactly the same positions we started with," Birch snapped finally, indicating the "Psychic Division" logos on his and Darby's sleeves. "*Live with it.*" Gerrit shrugged, unconvinced. Grier was just grateful he didn't start another argument on the subject - the Psychic Division consisted entirely of Birch and Darby, who answered directly to the Boss. This gave them total job security, and a nice salary, but no room for advancement. Whereas Gerrit and Grier were the heads of the the Grass Pokemon Procurement Division after much less time, and were paid *much* more. That was probably why Gerrit got broken bones so often.  
  
"But what *is* the mission?" asked Grier, mentally counting to ten. Birch and Darby glanced at each other, suddenly unsure.  
  
"..."  
  
"It's near Mt. Moon... maybe it's Clefairy..." mused Darby.  
  
"You don't know," Gerrit informed them.  
  
"That's all the email said. It, you know, just mostly talked about this Atreus guy," said Darby defensively.  
  
Gerrit started counting on his fingers. "You said it's near Mt. Moon. You said it's us, Ethan, and this Atreus guy. That's two Grass trainers, two Psychic trainers, a Ground trainer, and some freak with who knows what." No one bothered to contest the word "freak".  
  
"Uh... well, it's also three psychics... and Ethan's not really a Ground trainer, he's got all sorts of Pokemon..." said Darby thoughtfully.  
  
"So do I," Gerrit pointed out, slightly miffed. "And so do you. And Grier's got all these Fighting Pokemon. I was just listing the... areas." Ethan Pazian, Team Rocket's only other psychic, was the Boss's backup Gym Leader and so high-ranking it was a little surprising that he even physically left the Gym anymore.  
  
"So basically it doesn't make a whole lot of sense," said Grier flatly. "This is just to break the guy in - the Boss probably just pulled a bunch of names out of a hat after Ethan." Birch and Darby looked thoughtful. Gerrit nodded and glanced down at the newspaper in front of him, losing interest.  
  
"Yeah, probably. There might not even be a real reason for going to Mt. Moon. You can run into just about anything around there - aw, *man*." He picked up the newspaper, scanning an article incredulously. "This's the freak who beat us to Dolphus's Gym that one time! *Look!*" He shoved it at Grier, looking indignant. "He had a *spy*!"  
  
"No, he didn't," Grier corrected, reading the article. "We had a spy, and he could've been selling information to everyone on the planet -"  
  
"Does the Boss know about this?" demanded Gerrit, eyes gleaming. "Maybe -"  
  
"He knows. These are Atreus' resume in certain circles," said Darby, twisting her hair distractedly. "But he hasn't robbed us directly, so he's safe."  
  
"Does he have a last name, or what?" asked Grier, snickering at the interview with the Gym Leader.  
  
"He's one of those people who uses a stage name," said Birch, looking slightly disapproving. "I think it's something from mythology -"  
  
"The house of Atreus was this Greek family that had a sort of curse on them," said Gerrit, sounding like a third grader doing an oral book report. "It was lifted when this guy named Orestes - well, yeah, that kind of thing." He stopped, puzzled by Grier's sudden fixation on the surface of the table.  
  
"What kind of thing?" asked Ethan, opening the door only partway to avoid the newspapers Gerrit had discarded on the floor.  
  
"Boring ancient curses," said Gerrit, smirking at Grier, who gave him a dirty look. Birch and Darby were snickering. *Grrrrr...*  
  
Ethan blinked, then shrugged and sat down. Gerrit smouldered and scooted away - Ethan was a head taller than anyone else in the room, and Gerrit was four-foot-eleven. "Uh, you do know what we're going to be doing, right?" "No," said all four immediately. He nodded. "Okay. Someone was going through a pass in Mt. Moon a few weeks ago and found some weird rocks. He picked them up and brought them in to the lab, to see if they were worth anything. They weren't -" Gerrit had begun to look extremely offended. "- they're the result of this attack - it's usually called "Ancient Power" - that's only learned, as far as anyone can tell, by Aerodactyls."  
  
"They think there's an extinct Pokemon running around over there," stated Birch, extremely skeptical. Ethan shrugged. "Maybe not - but it's the attack that Aerodactyls used to defeat almost everything, so anything that knows it would -" He shrugged. "- Be very valuable. Of course, it's mostly an excuse to test Atreus."  
  
"I'm always right," muttered Grier, smirking slightly at the others' surprised looks. Ethan's left eye twitched. He had a reputation for being a little slow - someone, probably Gerrit, had nicknamed him "Lenny" when he had first joined Team Rocket - that seemed to stick despite the fact that no one could ever think of an instance of him making a mistake.  
  
"Uh - where, exactly, is he?" asked Darby after an uncomfortable pause. Ethan's eye twitched again. "I think he was with Delores -" Everyone suddenly found some excuse to look away - Gerrit snickered out loud. Ethan glanced upward. "- she ought to be bringing him here in a few minutes."  
  
Someone asked in a very low voice, "On a leash?" Ethan winced very slightly.  
  
"I don't think that was the problem -"  
  
The door swung open, knocking Gerrit's chair to the side. "Here you go, sir," the former model told the frustrated red-haired man cheerfully, "These are who you'll be working with, and please work on training those Pokemon a little before your next review. You could probably ask anyone here for advice. Oh, Ethan," she said, switching to an adult-to-adult tone, "Where'd you put Lapras? She wasn't in my box or the office's."  
  
"The Toscana Town Pokecenter still has her," Ethan replied very neutrally. Atreus looked as though his head were about to explode. "They needed a little more time to work on her right dorsal flipper, anyway - there was some nerve damage. You can check her out yourself - she was in under your name," he added quickly, refusing to give Delores a chance to ask him anything else.  
  
"Thanks, Ethan," she said quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder. He stiffened, not looking at her. She smiled politely at Atreus as she left.  
  
He stood by the door for several seconds, face bright red and hands deep in his pockets. "Okay, time to go," he snapped finally in an odd voice, and stalked out. Ethan's left eye twitched again as he stood up and followed. Birch and Darby, out of respect for their fellow psychic, followed quickly to keep him from being alone in the hallway with Atreus.  
  
Gerrit let the door close for a moment after them to give himself time to giggle hysterically. "He's going to get *strangled*," he murmured as they left.  
  
"Or she's going to get fired," added Grier, knowing perfectly well that it would never happen. Delores' position as director of the Recruiting Division was incontestable - Team Rocket was made up of corrupt individuals, after all.  
  
"Think this'll be enough to get rid of creepy-guy?" Darby hissed to Grier during the pause at the door for ID checks. "Dunno," Grier whispered. But one slip-up, she was sure, and the three executives set to oust him would move in. It really didn't take a lot if you were new, no matter what your record said.  
  
-  
  
*It really doesn't take a lot if you're me,* Yenna observed, gritting her teeth and wondering how much aspirin it was *really* safe to take. Savil just wasn't giving up on this one. *No matter what my record says.* Never mind that she'd consistently done every damn illegal thing the crazy Espeon had ever told her to do. Never mind that she'd broken four different bones rescuing Eevees who tended not even to need to be rescued. Never mind that Seer, Savil's own son and the best-humored Flareon on earth, was more reluctant to follow her orders than Yenna. Humans just couldn't be trusted. Take your eyes off them for one second and they go and abandon a helpless little full-grown, intelligent Eevee to a totally unsuitable respected Gym Leader.  
  
"- and if *you* don't know this espeeee Blaine person, *we* certainly have *no* idea how he would treat Sanneeeee! We both know that Aylward -" *That* was the word Yenna had been waiting for.  
  
"*Aylward likes Blaine,*" she interrupted forcefully.  
  
"- hasn't - eeeeeeeeon?!"  
  
"Aylward *likes* Blaine. One of the Flareons in Viridian used to -" Never say "belong to" around Savil. "- *work with* the guy. She says he's *very tolerant and respectful* to Pokemon, and *has never tried to force anyone to evolve*." Savil's tail twitched and she started to crouch, and Yenna knew she'd thought of something else to rant about. She pressed on quickly. "Aylward *checked on him* after those tremors a few years ago - he'd had a special structure made for the homeless Fire Pokemon to stay in. Sanny is in *no danger*."  
  
"*He'll make her evolve into a Flareon!*" growled Savil with certainty. "He likes *Fire* Pokemon!"  
  
"She *wanted* to be a Flareon," Yenna reminded Savil , showing her teeth. Savil's ears flattened and she swiped at Yenna's face. Yenna had expected that, and had taken a few steps away from the low branch the Espeon was standing on without attracting her notice. Savil always made sure she was at eye level with humans, but for some reason had trouble judging distance that high up. She'd had a problem with falling down until she'd figured out how to support herself with kinesis.  
  
"She could have changed her mind," Savil reminded her acidly. "It's happened before."  
  
"You can't use that as an argument," Yenna snapped. "That's even a risk *after* evolution." Savil picked up her left forepaw and drew out her claws, studying them speculatively. Yenna winced away - Savil kept her claws *sharp* - but she always knew she'd won the argument when Savil was reduced to threats.  
  
"I notice you're also not not doing your *other* jobs, eon," Savil began insinuatingly -  
  
A black streak hurled itself out of the bushes and struck Savil hard in the side, knocking her to the ground. "Umbree on! Eembree ree ree on! Ree umb-on *run-un*, unree!" the impolite Umbreon growled down at Savil, who was momentarily too stunned to knock Kala off her back. *Neither are you! Stop ranting and come on! You're supposed to be teaching your *fighting classes* right now, half-wit!* Kala slashed vindictively at Savil's ears and stepped daintily off, redirecting her wrath to Yenna.  
  
"Reeon-on! Eonnon *ree-unree*! Nononee reon on ree run nonum bee ro! Umbreon!" *And you! She's *right*! You told me you'd get those Water Stones from Cerulean hours ago! Get going!* Kala lowered her head, narrowing one eye in a threat to use Confuse Ray.  
  
"I'm going. See you, Savil!" Yenna waved cheerfully over her shoulder as she fled.  
  
"*DON'T CALL ME THAT EONNNNN!!!!*" Yenna snickered at Savil's typical response to the human name and kept running.  
  
Yenna had been doing these odd jobs for West Pewter Forest's clandestine Eevee community for years, and they'd long since come to the understanding that she wasn't going to behave if they weren't. They were being *way* too much trouble the last few days - she didn't see any reason to *hurry* over to Cerulean. In fact, why not just walk? It should only take a couple days to get through the Mt. Moon range... and maybe she could even relieve a few cocky trainers of their money... 


End file.
